Misunderstood
by RobDeBrony
Summary: Nick has always thought of Sarah as being some annoying, childish, stupid little kid who is too pathetic to even hold her own weight. But when the two are forced to spend time with each other, Nick and Sarah finally start to see eye to eye. (This takes place between Clem arriving and having the conversation with Luke and when she, Nick and Pete go to the stream to hunt for food).
1. Morning Light

"It's no use…we've looked everywhere and there's still no sign of Clementine or Alvin" Carlos said, shaking his head and looking at the ground. It had been a day since Alvin and Clem went to find supplies in an old fishing shack by the stream and they still hadn't returned, which had the rest of the group worried. "I just don't understand why they would just dissappear, there has to be a reason"

"Walkers, maybe?" Pete said, clutching his hunting rifle. "...Maybe, maybe" Carlos scratched his chin. "Don't say that!" Rebecca scolded. "They'll be fine! We just have to find them!"

"Calm down, Rebecca" Pete said. "Calm down? Calm down?! My Husband is out there, Pete! Don't tell me to calm down!"

"Look, if they are out there we have to find them, all of us" Luke walked over to his machete and put it in it's holster. "What about Sarah?" Carlos asked.

"Nick can take care of her"

"I don't trust him" Carlos grumbled.

"To be honest, me neither" Pete said. "Boy nearly gut shot me twice yesterday. What makes you think he can take care of a little Girl?"

"Trust me, he don't do much when he's bored, so he wont be that much of a threat"

"What about food? He's not exactly Gordon Ramsy"

"He can improvise. We have plenty of snacks and fresh meat. He can make her a little mixed lunch"

"And what will happen if he loses his temper and starts yelling at her? What happens then?" Carlos said, interrupting the two.

"...I don't know" Luke replied, turning his head away. "If he shouts at her and she goes into one of her breakdowns, he'll just get more agitated. By the time we come back she'll be traumatised" Carlos warned. "If that is the case, I'm not willing to leave that man alone with my Daghter..."

"...Look. We all know Nick's known to go aggro on everyone, but the kid's had a rough life. You all want him to show that he can be mature and responsible, so give him one chance" Luke said, flashing looks to each of them. Pete placed his hands on his hips and Carlos looked away and back. "Hrrmmm...alright" Pete said. "I'm willing to give the Boy a go, as a test". Carlos flashed a look to Rebecca and Pete. "Are you ok with this?" He asked. "I don't care, as long as Sarah's safe and we can go and find Alvin"she replied. Carlos glared at the door, then at Luke. "I'll give him one chance, but if he fucks it up-"

"He wont"

"-IF...he fucks it up, there will be consequences". Although Luke was unnerved by what Carlos had said, he knew that Carlos was willing to give Nick the chance he needed.

In his room, Nick was asleep and snoring slightly, when Pete came parading into his room. "Rise and shine, Boy. You've got work to do!" He said, smiling. Nick rubbed his eyes at the light as Pete drew up the blinds on his window. "Wh...what?" Nick yawned, his squinted eyes looking up at his Uncle. "C'mon. Get up. You've got jobs to do"

"Wait...jobs?"

"Yes! J.O.B.S, jobs."

"But, you said today is my day off!"

"That's changed! Alvin and Clementine still aren't back yet. We're going to find them". Nick grumbled as he got up and walked out of the room. As he reached the kitchen he made a reach for his hunting rifle, but Carlos took it from in front of him. "Woah, woah, hey. That's MY hunting rifle" He said, pointing towards the gun in Carlos' hands. "I know..."

"Well give it back!"

"You're staying here" Pete said, placing a hand on Nick's shoulder as he came up from behind him. "...What?"

"We need you to stay here and keep an eye on the house"

"What?! Why?! I'd be much more useful with you guys!"

"Well we need you here, for a good reason" Carlos said, glaring back at him. Nick returned his glare. "C'mon, I'll get so bored!"

"Deal with it, Boy! Plus, you need to stay here and watch Sarah.". Nick's face grew angrier and his glare grew stronger. "What?! No! Do you have any idea how annoying she is?! Any idea?!"

"Watch your mouth, Son!"Pete scolded. "Don't you dare talk about my Daughter like that! I'm sure your Mother would be embarassed at the sight of your behaviour!" Carlos said. "Don't say shit about my Mother!"

"Nick! Carlos! Knock it off! We have to find Clem and Alvin!" Luke yelled. The two glared at eachother. "Listen, Boy. This is your chance to show that you can be a mature, responsible role model for Sarah! Do not, I repeat, do NOT fuck this up, Boy!" Nick glared at his Uncle, muttering something under his breath. Pete walked out the door with Luke and Rebecca. Carlos placed Nick's hunting rifle down and walked up as close as he could to him. "Listen, Nick. I'm counting on you to protect my Daughter" he said aggresively, spitting the words out at Nick. "Make sure she's unharmed. Also, don't let her go outside, ok? Just distract her for me." He added as he walked out the door. "Why me?! Why couldn't you stay?!" Nick yelled. "They need me out there"

"How come they don't need me?!"

"Take a guess, Nick. You constantly shout at everyone, you go off like a time bomb every time something doesn't go your way and you've come close to killing each one of us at least once! Why WOULD we need you?!" He said. Nick's look of anger turned into a glare. Carlos snatched Nick's hunting rifle off the table and walked out the door. "Oh COME ON! Why do I have to do it?! You're better with her! I don't wanna spend all day stuck here with-" Nick turned to see Sarah rubbing her eyes and walking around the corner, in her pajamas. "...Sarah..."

"Morning Nickolas" She said, yawning. Nick's look of anger turned into a bemused face. "I've told you, kid. Call me Nick"

"Oh...sorry Nicko-uhhh...I mean Nick..." She said, looking down at the ground and twiddling her fingers. Nick rolled his eyes, not even trying to show appreciation or thanks. He walked out of the kitchen like a black, grumpy cloud.


	2. No Time Passes

Nick took another gulp from his bottle of booze. He had gone back into his room and put on his deoderant and cap and then walked into the TV room. _I may be stuck with this annoying kid, but at least I have some decent shit to drink_. He flicked through the channels on the TV until he came to the Nature channel. They were talking about Dinosaur bones. _Good enough, I guess. At least enough to kill a couple hours_. He stared at the clock. 11:34. It had been fourty minutes since they left. Twelve hours to go. In the corner of his eye, a blueish-white blur came into view. "...Can you help me get dressed?" a high-pitched voice came. Nick turned his head to the left, staring at Sarah. "...What?" Nick raised an eyebrow. _Do what? She's fourteen and she can't even get herself dressed...REALLY?!_ "My Dad usually gets my clothes out for me while I take a shower. Nick gave her a rather un-caring look. She looked away, obviously intimdated. "...What are you watching?" She asked. _Does this Girl ever shut up?!_ Nick thought. "...It's a program about Dinosaurs' bones and where they find them"  
"Oh! I like Dinosaurs. I know lots" She smiled. Nick didn't react much, although he heard her. "I know this one Dinosaur, called...um...oh! Spinosaurus!" Nick still didn't look at her. _God...who cares?!_. "It's really big and lives near water like a Crocodile! It's as big as a Whale!". 'Damn...well, I guess that is kinda big...and kinda cool'. "Heh. I bet T-Rex would whoop it's ass though" Nick joked, chuckling. But when she failed to laugh his smile dissappeared. "Actually, T-Rex and Spinosaurus didn't live near eachother. But Spinosaurus was bigger than T-Rex. It's the biggest predator that's ever been found on Earth". _Bigger than T-Rex? Really? Pffft, this Girl is kinda dumb..._. Nick decided to ignore her. Nick continued to watch the TV, not even noticing that she'd left the room. He slowly closed his eyes, dropping his bottle and drifting into a deep sleep.

"Nick? Nick? Nick?!"

"Gah!". Nick looked at the Girl who'd just woken him up, glaring at her. "What?! What do you want?! Can't you see I was sleeping?!"

"My Dad usually gets my clothes out for me about now. I'm going to take a shower"

"So?..."

"Pleeeaaaase?"

"No..."

"Please?"

"No"

"Please?"

"No"

"Please?"

"NO!"

"...Please?"

"Ugh. Ok, FINE! But I'm not helping you with your shower at all!".

* * *

Nick ate his words. He was now stood outside the shower, his arms crossed and a look of irritation painted across his face. Occaisionally, Sarah would ask for a bottle of soap or shampoo or whatever and Nick would hand it to her. Eventually she got out the shower and Nick found himself sat on Carlos' bed drying her with the towel. _Why me...why me?!__._ An idea suddenly popped into Nick's head. "Hey, do you use deoderant?" He asked. "What's that?" She replied naively. "It's a spray people use to stop themselves sweating"

"Oh...can I use it?"

"I guess" Nick smirked. "Wait here, I'll go and get it"

"Ok!". After a while, Nick came back with a blue can. "Ok, here's what you do" He said, taking her arms. "You lift your arms, you place it underneath one of your armpits, you look away and then you spray it"

"Will it hurt?". Nick smirked even more. "Of course not, it's just spray". Sarah sprayed the can, before letting out a yell. "Ouch!". The gullible Girl's reply sent Nick laughing uncontrollably. Sarah stared at him, confused and upset. After a few seconds of hearing his laughter, tears started to form in the corners of her eyes and her bottom lip started to tremble. "That's not funny!" She cried. "B-But it is!" Nick laughed. "Why did you do that?!" She yelled. Nick's laughing ceased. "Heh...heh...oh come on, kid! Take a joke!" He said, his smile turning into a glare. "But it wasn't f-funny!" She cried before running into her room and slammed the door, tears streaming down her face. "Hey! Sarah, wait! God dammit..." Nick didn't understand. _Why the fuck can't this kid just grow up like I had to! All she ever does is whine and cry and act like a little bitch! I mean, it was just a God damn joke! Then again...what I did was kinda shitty...maybe I should apologize..._. He walked over to her door. "Sarah? Are you in there? Look...I...I know what I did was kinda shitty...but that doesn't mean you have to cry...Sarah?...Look, I brought you your clothes, I'll put them by the door...ok?...Is that ok?...Look, I'll be downstairs if...well, y'know...yeah..." Nick placed the now neatly folded clothes by her door, before walking downstairs. He heard the sound of the door opening before he walked back into the living room and took his cap off. "God dammit...I wish Clem was here...she'd be able to sort this shit out". He turned the TV back on. He didn't fall to sleep this time, he didn't feel like he deserved to. _Damn...I fucked up this time. Carlos is gonna fuckin' kill me. I knew that I should've dried her arms before doing that, but I did it anyway, what the fuck! Maybe I should..._. "Y'know what?" He said to himself. "Fuck it...if I didn't help her, this wouldn't have happened. This wasn't my fault..."


	3. Generosity

Nick, his stomach grumbling, put his hand on his belly. The TV had gotten boring and he'd started to get tired again. He looked at the clock. 11:46. How could such a small amount of time had passed?! He growled, knowing he had a long time to go with Sarah. Once again, a blur appeared in the corner of his eye. But this time he didn't look. "Nick?...Can you make me some breakfast?" The voice came. Nick still didn't look, but instead glared at the TV screen. Then, the word "...Please" came to his ears. He glared at her and she stepped back, intimidated by his look. He got up and walked into the kitchen, she walked closely behind him. When in the kitchen, Nick looked through the cupboards and in the fridge. "...We have cereal...if you want any..." Sarah didn't dare tell him what she wanted. "...Or toast? You like toast, kid?". Nick still didn't hear a response. Nick frowned. "...Yeah, I'm just gonna get you some pop tarts". Nick opened the cupboard door and stared at the blue box, reading it's contents. He then took out a pair of pop tarts and out them in a toaster. He then proceeded to take out ingrediants for his favourite breakfast, one he thought of himself. It was two ham sandwiches stacked with multiple layers of cheese and meat, then covered in salt and mayonaise. He'd then melt the cheese by putting the sandwiches in a toaster and get himself some booze while doing so. After making his feast of a breakfast, he sat down and placed a small plate of pop tarts in front of Sarah, and took a huge bite out of one of the sandwiches. Sarah eyeballed her meal. Nick stared at her. He slowly swallowed the mushed up sandwich in his mouth. _Where the fuck are this kid's manners?!_ He stared at her, his look growing into a frown. "C'mon, kid. Eat your pop tarts, they taste good!" he said. Sarah jolted, looking up at him, startled. Nick glared at her. "Kid, look. I don't like pop tarts either. But I've gone out of my way to get them for you! So eat up!"

"It's...not the taste, I like pop tarts"

"Then eat them"

"It's just...well...nothing...". Sarah picked up a pop tart and took a small bite out of it, resting her face on her hand. Nick stared at her, then concentrated on his food. It tasted good, better than any old pop tart. That got him thinking. _Jeez...I guess what I did give her was kinda shitty. I mean, pop tarts aren't exactly that big, and I have this gigantic burger? Damn...I sure have middle fingered her_. Nick stared at her food, then at her, before giving out an annoyed sigh. "Ugh...here!" He said, handing over his second sandwich. She stared at it, almost as if confused by its prescence, then she looked up at him. He glared at her, then took another bite out of his sandwich. Sarah stared at him, then smiled. Nick looked away. Some small, brown blur came into view underneath him, he looked at it and saw a pop tart on his plate. He put down his sandwich, swallowed what was in his mouth and picked the pastry up. He stared at it, then at Sarah. "Uuuuh...thanks..." He said, rather suprised. She smiled, then took a bite out of the sandwich she'd been given. Nick stared at the pop tart as if it shouldn't be there. _Why is she being nice to me?_. He took a bite out of the pop tart. It didn't taste as good as his sandwich, but it was different. Easier to eat, too. Sarah looked up and smiled at him. He stared back at the pop tart, rather bewildered, before letting out a short smile back.

* * *

Later, he was sat back in front of the TV. The previous program had finished, now he was watching a different show. He was bored to death of TV, and felt he'd go out and work on his aim. So he walked into the kitchen and looked around, feeling like something was missing. "Shit! Carlos took my Hunting Rifle..."  
"What's a Hunting Rifle?". Nick spun around to see Sarah stood there, a huge smile across her face. "uh...it's a gun used to kill Animals for food". Sarah gased, raised both hands to her mouth. "That's afwul!"

"Well, it's how we get food nowadays, kid"

"Can't we just buy food?". _Holy shit...Carlos REALLY has been keeping the world from her._ "Uh...it doesn't really work like that anymore, kid"

"Why not?"

"Well, let's just say that...". Nick didn't want her to learn what Carlos had been keeping from her, he's get his ass kicked. So instead, he made an excuse. "Uh...all the supermarkets in the area have been...put out of business..."

"That's sad. Does that mean everyone will have lost their jobs?". _They'll've lost more than that... "_Uh, yeah. They all...lost their jobs". Sarah looked at the ground. Nick stared at her in confusion, she seemed to be 'processing' what Nick just said. "What are you doing?" She asked, looking back up at Nick. "Well, I WAS gonna go practise my shooting, but your Dad took my damn gun"

"Oh...that reminds me". Sarah held out her hands. As Nick looked down, to his suprise, he found a pistol in her hands. "I found it under the house. Will you show me how to use it?". Nick stared at the gun, then at Sarah. "Uh...does your Dad mind?"

"I don't know. I hope he does. I want to know how to use this in case I need to"

"...Maybe later". Nick turned and walked towards the house. "Where are you going?"

"To watch TV..."

"But you've done that all morning"

"And?"

"Can you follow me? I wanna show you something". Nick turned and glared at Sarah, who smiled then ran towards the Cabin. _This is gonna be a long day..._


	4. Brother and Sister

_**"I always imagined that Nick treated Sarah like a little**_ sister"_** - A Writer With Mixed Interests**_

* * *

"I don't understand...they told us they were coming here". Luke scratched his head, pacing back and fourth inside the empty fishing shack. "We have to keep looking. We can't just give up on them" Carlos said, searching the lifeless corpses of the Walkers. "Looks like they got cornered by Lurkers"

"Wherever they are, it's gonna take us a while to find them. We may have to stay out until morning..."

"What about Sarah and Nick. We can't just leave them there alone, Carlos". Carlos scratched his chin, looking towards the shack then back to Luke. "Ok...you go back to the Cabin and stay with her and Nick overnight. Make sure she's safe"

"Make sure THEY'RE safe"

"Sarah is our number one priority, Luke. While we're away we need to make sure she's safe. Nick can take care of himself"

"You didn't seem to think so back at the Cabin"

"Things have changed"

"Jack shit has changed! We're still lookin' for Alvin an' Clem. Nick's still at the Cabin with Sarah! And you still don't trust him!"

"When I get back, if Sarah is ok, I will trust him"

"...I'd expect you to WANT to believe that he's capable of looking after her"

"If it were you or Pete, or even Clem, I would believe she was safe. But Nick has put our group in danger too many times for me to believe I can trust him"

"...So what do you want me to do?"

"Go back there and check on them. Distract her and talk to him. Tell him how to handle her. I'll meet up with Pete and Rebecca and we'll continue looking for Alvin and Clem". Luke stared at the ground, holding back his anger as well as he could. "And Luke...". Luke looked up. "If anything happens to her...it wont be just Walkers Nick will have to worry about...".

* * *

"...What is it?"

"It's a Dog". Nick stared at the drawing, which seemed more like a scribble. "Do you like it?"

"Uh...it's great". _It's terrible_. "Stay here. I need the toilet?"

"Sure, whatever". Sarah walked off. Nick sat down on her bed, looking around her room. It was smaller than his. _Not much of a man cave..._He looked at her drawing, then picked it up, skimming through the pages. On them were scribbling of Dogs and Cats and Ponies. _Wow, she really likes Animals._ The very thought made him feel guilty, as he killed Animals simply for food. Imagine how bad she'd feel if she accidentally saw it one day. "Nick?". Nick spun around. Sarah raised her two hands. "Will you tell me how to use it?". As Nick looked down, he saw a pistol in her hands. "Wh-where'd you get that?"

"Under the Cabin"

"The Hell were you doing under there?"

"I was just exploring...is that bad? Please don't tell my Dad!". Nick thought for a second, then answered. "I wont, Sarah. But stay where I can see you. I don't wanna get yelled at for losing you...so, uh...do you like Animals?" Nick asked, sitting down on the bed. "Yes! I love them!" Nick felt even more guilt, but tried to forget about it. "Oh, uhh...which ones?"

"I like Dogs most of all"

"Heh. When we were kids, Luke used to let me take his Dog Sparky on walks"

"That sounds fun"

"It was actually kinda boring. I only really did it for the playtime"

"Are you and Luke...like Brothers or something?" Nick's eyes widened. He stopped himself from looking at Sarah."I guess"

"I've always wanted a Big Brother" Nick thought to himself for a few short seconds. He...could try it. He'd never had a sibling. "Would it make you happy if I was your Big Brother?"

"I'd love that!" Sarah exclaimed, smiling at Nick. Nick couldn't help but smile back. He'd always wanted a Brother, but a Sister would have to do. "Alright. From now on we shall be Brother and Sister" He exclaimed enthusiastically. Sarah smiled, giggling and wrapped her arms around him. He stared down at her for a few short seconds, before awkwardly patting her on the head. "So, uhh...what d'you wanna do now?"

* * *

_**Sorry that this took SO damn long for me to make. It's been VERY busy.**_


End file.
